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Sink or Swim

By Nathan Petrashek

The most important series of the 2012 season for the Milwaukee Brewers begins right now.

Usually I despise calling one series, even one game, more important than any other. From a statistical standpoint, they all count the same. But you have to play with the hand you’re dealt. The trade deadline means all games are not created equal. Teams are on the verge of deciding whether they are buyers or sellers, gauging the potential of reaping some prospects for would-be free agents versus making a run at the postseason. That’s a tough calculus to make.

The fact is, the Brewers have brought themselves to the brink with their shoddy play. They’ve filled a season’s quota of boneheaded mistakes and blown leads. The frustration (and ire) was apparent in Ron Roenicke’s postgame comments yesterday. The Brewers now find themselves is 6.5 games back of front-running Cincinnati, ready to begin a three-game series against the presumptive division champs.

They also find themselves with several potential trade chips in Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum, and Francisco Rodriguez, among others. Those will be pretty tantalizing pieces to “one-piece-away” clubs, and the Brewers have been telling inquiring trade partners “not yet.” Doug Melvin may have some clarity after Wednesday’s game.